I found a 98 Riviera with 19,000 miles

Abaddon wrote:

Ah yes. Here come the red marks of opinion instead of actual merit. Bring it on ladies.
I don't give a shit what you people do with your Rivs, so don't be assholes about what I'd do with mine.

Someone seems to have it out for you lately. Fortunately, the system seems to self correct usually by a bit more in the appropriate direction.

gunmetalRED wrote:

Naaahh, it's all in good fun for me, I'm sure you'd take care of it! ;)I'm studying transportation design right now and there are definitely two camps in our studio: those who maintain the original production of their cars (me), and those who see the production cars as a blank canvas to express their own individuality.  In the end, either way, the heart is still a Riv.  

Agreed. I've had my Riv since '02. I'm in the process of acquiring another one. I love this car. This car posted is absolutely gorgeous. I'm not the type of person that can just let a car sit though. It's a car, not a coffee table. Drive it, enjoy it, it's yours.

TRiley...you seriously are insane, but I understand it   

I'd call that a fair asking price.  If I wasn't in a 3yr lease ATM, I'd think about coming for it.

And I'd mildly mod it as well.  


HEY, what's with the angled antenna? Already replaced?

Abaddon wrote:

TRiley...you seriously are insane, but I understand it   

My fun car makes 4 times the power or more than my daily driver.. I seriously need to find a car that gets 25+mpg and makes 500whp... I'd be one happy mother fucker.

Some cars are better left stock some moded......

T Riley wrote:

I seriously need to find a car that gets 25+mpg and makes 500whp... I'd be one happy mother fucker.

That's pretty much a Tesla, isn't it?

stan wrote:

Some cars are better left stock some moded......

In this case, the car DOES have 19,000 miles on it, not like it's only 100 miles. But we're all entitled to our own opinions of course.

No.....a Chevy Volt maybe??

1998 Riv wrote:

stan wrote:

Some cars are better left stock some moded......

In this case, the car DOES have 19,000 miles on it, not like it's only 100 miles.  But we're all entitled to our own opinions of course.

Haha..that's right...it's not the mileage it's the make I think.You don't touch a Rolls or Ferrari u touch Honda and Chevy...hahaha NO?

If I had the money to afford a Ferrari, everything I owned would be modded to hell.....

Abaddon wrote:

If I had the money to afford a Ferrari, everything I owned would be modded to hell.....

Hahaha.....how you doing Abaddon!....

Abaddon wrote:

If I had the money to afford a Ferrari, everything I owned would be modded to hell.....

If I had that money I would own a McLaren AND mod everything to hell.

Haha...not me....if I had it ,I would drive a Rolls Wraith and never touch a single thing.... hahaha.....

I have listed this car on eBay with no reserve. I'm going to let the market determine what this Riviera is worth.

Jaw-dropping. Always great to see such a pristine Riv that's kept in shape. Good luck with sale!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Riviera-Supercharged-1998-Buick-Riviera-ONLY-19-834-miles-PRISTINE-Supercharged-GREG-NORMAN-/201102981460?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2ed2abf954&item=201102981460&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

Ah wow, I can't believe I missed this one.  This is EXACTLY the type of deal I was looking for and have been trolling CL for over the last few months.  What a deal!  I would have paid the original $5500 asking price for this without any negotiation   

Even at $9500, that's not unreasonable, although it is a lot for a 98 Riv.  But this is a very nice and unusual car.

Great find!

I'd be tempted to not mod it much either if it were me since it has remained pristine all this time, although I'd probably consider "reversable" things like suspension, exhaust or a pulley change and document the work and keep the original parts.

Although the more I think about it, I drive so many miles (25k a year), that I might have had to weigh buying the car and running up the miles, or passing on it and letting someone with a garage keep it as a spare "parade" car they only drive 5k miles a year.

Wow...  

Abaddon wrote:

I'd mod the hell out of it  

As would I (gave you a "+", Scott). And here's why:

Btw, congrats on the sweet find. It's a great example of probably one of a few dozen unmolested 8th gen Rivs in existence.

If you want to flip this car because the Shark drove it, and you can find proof (I believe it probably is true), I'd bet you could get some real money for it, eventually. Even 20k if you find the right people. It might take 5 years to line things up. In this case, don't put a mile on the car. Keep in under cover, in a climate controlled space, and wait for the sale. Serious inquiries only.

But, if you want to drive the car, and by that I mean enjoy driving it the way Buick suggested it could perform, there are some things you should do to the car to improve it, starting with the suspension. Even at such low miles, the struts are likely gone at this point. Air ride may be leaking. Beyond that, there are some things we've learned over time that make this car feel like a more up-to-date driver, like firmer shifts, increased boost, better breathing, and more free-flowing exhaust parts. These are things that won't steal from the luxury Riviera has to offer, but will make the car feel nimble, quicker, and safer at cruising speeds.

Best of luck. Glad you stopped by. Hope to hear more about your experience with this car!

Great advice AA. I'd love to find a clean Riv and make the "easy" updates to modernize and improve the car without detracting from it. But I fear this one just isn't the right one to modify. It's value is in the low miles and originality. I'd like to find a nice one with say 80,000 miles and a nice service history! Anybody got one?

$5,100 and counting as of now...

When I saw the ad of this car on craiglist I wanted to send there my friend to have a look at the car. But I resigned after I was given this advice here:   

rivi95era wrote:

I dont even open craig's list posts that dont have an image. I feel that they will be a big old waste of time and if you do go it seems like they will try to beg you to buy it. I have had that happen before.   

The seller didn't help either with his rather rude response to my e-mail in which I asked for pictures and some more information.

Quote :

no pictures - see in person. you have number"

JohnWillo wrote:

Great advice AA. I'd love to find a clean Riv and make the "easy" updates to modernize and improve the car without detracting from it. But I fear this one just isn't the right one to modify. It's value is in the low miles and originality. I'd like to find a nice one with say 80,000 miles and a nice service history!  Anybody got one?

Mine has 72K on the body, 2K on the engine. Yeah, that service history thing... that's important. I picked my Riv up as an auction donation and found out the history (or lack thereof) the hard way (hence the engine).

Of course this one having only 19K miles, I'm sure there's not much of a history to report! /drool

bidding is up to $6600. Too rich for my blood, although I'm sure its a lovely car.
I bought my '95 three years ago with 90k miles, now has 118k. I was fortunate enough to buy it from the original owner who took very good care of the car. I had to repair the supercharger coupler and the steering column side-play, and a new radiator last year when top tank cracked.
It's been a wonderful car, my daily driver. I typically get bored with my cars after a few years and replace them but I doubt I'd find another car that measures up to this one. I would love to have bid on this low miles 98, fly in and drive it back home to Nevada.

Before I bought mine I drove a couple of others that were for sale, neither of them had a good feel and they each had a list of problems, mostly electrical issues.

I get a lot of compliments on my car, I like that they are distinctive and seldom seen on the road, and when people ride in it they are always impressed with the comfort, performance, and smoothness of the car.

I've got to agree with you 100% there, the combination of comfort and power in the Riviera is unmatched. The only other car I've driven that I liked nearly as much is surprisingly the Dodge Magnum SXT. It was a superb land yacht, haha.